Obesity 'more deadly than previously thought'

Obesity claims more lives than previously thought, according to a new analysis from Columbia University in the US.

Scientists had thought that obesity accounted for approximately five per cent of deaths among black and white Americans, but the latest research places the figure at 18 per cent.

The findings - which are likely to hold true for other nations including the UK - indicate that the true proportion of people who die as a result of obesity may be nearly three times higher than previous estimates.

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'Obesity has dramatically worse health consequences than some recent reports have led us to believe,' said study author Dr Ryan Masters, from Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health.

Many western nations are currently in the grip of an obesity epidemic, but Dr Bruce Link, professor of epidemiology and sociomedical sciences, believes the worst is yet to come.

He pointed out that children growing up today live in an environment where obesity is 'much more the norm' than in previous generations.

'So it stands to reason that we won't see the worst of the epidemic until the current generation of children grows old,' the professor warned.

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